to Assiut. BENTtTA^AN. 18. Route. 199
The Vestibule which formerly stood behind an open court, is
borne by two columns with sixteen edges and tapering towards
the top. The cornice projects considerably above the architrave
and is ostensibly supported by fine laths hewn, like all the rest of
the structure, out of the living rock. The resemblance of these laths
to the mutules of the Doric order is worthy of mention.
The Tomb Chamber was divided by two pairs of columns into
three slightly vaulted sections. Most of the scenes were painted on
a thin layer of stucco, with which the limestone walls were coated.
At the foot is a long inscription cut in the rock, in lines of a greenish
colour, 2'/2 ft- high, containing the above interesting excerpt from
Egyptian provincial history. In 1890 the royal names were cut out
of the rock by some vandal hand and the paintings have also un¬
fortunately suffered so much in the last 30 or 40 years, that the
subjects of some of them are now almost indistinguishable.
Entrance Wall (W.). Over the door we see the statue ofthe deceased
being transported to the temple, preceded hy dancers in curious attitudes ;
below are carpenters. To the left (N.) of the door is the est.ite-office of
the deceased, with servants weighing silver, measuring grain, and bringing
corn into the barns, while scribes seated in a colonnaded hall register
the amounts. The next two rows show the operations of ploughing, har¬
vesting, and threshing. Still lower down is a Nile-boat, bearing the mummy
of the deceased, as the inscription informs us, to Abydos (the grave of Osiris).
In the fifth row is a representation of the vintage and of the gathering of
figs and vegetables. The cattle in the water and the fishing scene (at the
foot) depict life by the river. — N. Wall (to the left on entering). At the
top is the deceased hunting in the desert. Below, to the right, he is re¬
presented on a large scale inspecting various proceedings in his province.
In the third row from the top two of his officials introduce to him a Caravan
of Asiatics, including men, women, and children, clad in foreign gaily-coloured
garments and accompanied by their goats and asses. The sharply cut features,
hooked noses, and pointed beards of these strangers unmistakeably proclaim
their Semitic nationality. The inscription describes them as 37 Amus (i.e.
Semitic Beduins) bringing eye-salve to the governor of the province. Khnem-
hotep's secretary hands him a list of the visitors. The lowest rows depict
the cattle and poultry of the deceased. — Rear Wall (E.). To the left the
deceased appears with his wife in a papyrus-boat, hunting waterfowl with
darts. All manner of birds fly about and nest in the thicket of reeds; in
the river are fish, a crocodile, and a hippopotamus; below is a fishing
scene. To the right is a companion picture, showing the deceased with
two fish transfixed by his lance. In the centre of the wall is the door of
a recess, containing a seated figure of the deceased. Above this door is
the deceased catching birds with a net. — S. Wall (to the right). To the
left the deceased is seated at table, with all kinds of sacrificial gifts heaped
before him. To the right are processions of servants and priests bringing
gifts for the dead. In the lowest rows are cattle, gazelles, antelopes, and
poultry, brought to he sacrificed, and the slaughtering and cutting up of
the sacrificial animals. — Entrance Wall. In the top row to the right (S.)
of the door are men washing; below, potters, men felling a palm, the
deceased in a litter inspecting his ship-carpenters. In the third row are
two ships carrying the children, harem, and dependents of the deceased
to the funeral festival at Abydos. In the fourth row are women engaged
in spinning and weaving and bakers. The lowest row contains men con¬
structing a shrine, a sculptor polishing a statue, etc.
In front of Tomb 3 is an ancient path descending to the plain,
and another begins opposite the adjacent —
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